Initial Claims Edge Up

Initial claims for unemployment insurance ticked up last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending October 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 217,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 214,000. The four-week moving average rose to 219,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 212,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending October 15. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 15 rose to 1,438,000, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 1,387,500, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 183,301 in the week ending October 22, an increase of 4,512 (2.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,141 (1.2 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 247,330 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 0.9 percent during the week ending October 15, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,226,800, an increase of 27,703 (2.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,363 (-1.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.5 percent; volume was 1,986,643.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 8 fell to 1,221,626, a decrease of 2,354 from the previous week. Labor reported 2,830,692 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.